Waynesburg University Athletics

Before the 2008-09 season, John Yates joined his good friend and long-time coaching counterpart Ron Headlee as an assistant coach on Headlee’s first staff as Waynesburg’s head man.

He is back for his 11th year with the program, his fifth as a volunteer assistant. He served as Headlee’s primary assistant over his first six seasons.

In 2008, Yates played a major role in the program’s rebirth from years of struggle. He was rewarded for his efforts by being nominated for Assistant Coach of the Year at the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championships.

Yates came to Waynesburg after 10 years as the head coach at Waynesburg Central High School. Ironically, during part of his time as the head of the successful WCHS program, Headlee served as one of Yates’ assistant coaches.

While at the helm of the Raiders, Yates produced an impressive overall record of 140-43 and coached 15 WPIAL individual champions, 20 state place-winners and six state champions, including NCAA Division I champion and Olympic bronze medalist, Coleman Scott, who wrestled at Oklahoma State.

Prior to his time as a head coach, Yates spent six seasons as a varsity assistant at WCHS and one year with the junior high program.

Yates came to Waynesburg after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1989 with a degree in science education. At Pitt, Yates was a four-year letterman on the varsity wrestling team.

Prior to joining the Panthers, Yates had a celebrated wrestling career at Seneca Valley High School. With the Raiders, Yates finished as high as third in the WPIAL and sixth in the state. He was also a Greco-Roman state champion and is a member of the Seneca Valley Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Yates teaches science at Margaret Bell Miller Middles School in Waynesburg and currently resides in Sycamore, Pennsylvania, with his wife Dawn. The two have a son, Jake, who is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the Tiger soccer team.